Edit Nagy, a Harlem, New York-based general contractor had her third bicycle stolen from New York City’s streets last month.
A thief cut her red Schwinn’s bike lock from the street sign pole it was wrapped around in broad daylight while she was working at a job site on West 12th Street.
“I can’t really bring my bike to the buildings so I just chain them up against a post,” she said of her habit of leaving a bicycle locked but unattended.
Still, the crime stung. “You really feel like you’re punched in the stomach. I couldn’t sleep for a few days; I just felt violated,” she told CBS MoneyWatch.
That hasn’t deterred Nagy from replacing her two-wheeler for a third time over the course of her life as a cyclist: “I immediately ordered another one because in my experience that’s the best medicine — to move forward,” she said.
More New Yorkers than usual have been victims of bike theft of late, as cycling has become an increasingly popular mode of transportation during the pandemic.
From March 1 to September 21, New Yorkers filed 4,477 complaints related to stolen bicycles, including electric bicycles. That’s up nearly 28%, from 3,507 complaints over the same period a year earlier, according to the New York City Police Department.
An uptick in theft has occurred in other cities across the U.S., too.
It’s a growing problem in Denver, Colorado, where 3,205 bikes have been stolen so far this year, compared to 3,283 bikes stolen in all of 2019.
From January through September, bike theft in Denver is up 23% compared to the same period a year earlier, Jay Casillas, public information officer for the Denver Police Department, told CBS MoneyWatch.
Read more at: https://www.cbsnews.com/